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Sunday, February 3, 2013

Il Carnevale di Venezia

One of the things in my
bucket list pertaining to travel is to attend the Venetian Carnival. Ever since I read Edgar Allan Poe’s The Masque of Read Death I’ve been
fascinated with images of a grand masquerade ball, although not necessarily
ending as gruesomely as Poe’s story.

"And thus was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death..."

The Venetian Carnival, or Carnevale di Venezia, started on 28th
January and will run till 12th February, 2013. For some it may be perceived as an ode to the
grotesque, for others – like me – is yet another occasion to fully indulge the
senses. The feast dates as far back as
1162, when Venice flourished as an independent city. The Carnival was very famous during the Renaissance
but its spirit dwindled in the 18th century. Then in the 1980’s Venetians started
celebrating it again.

The opening night of the colourful 2013 festivities.

The most distinguishing
aspect of the Carnival is the attendants’ highly ornamented costumes and the masques. In the olden days, they were manufactured by
highly skilled craftsmen called
mascherari, who enjoyed a position of privilege in the
Venetian society.

Masques at Disney World's Epcot.

The masques were worn throughout the holiday season, well
into January and February, right up to Ash Wednesday,
when the season of Lent – and the end of debauchery – was to end. Masques were also particularly welcome during
the plague that decimated Europe in the Middle Ages, with doctors specifically wearing
a white one with a hook-like beak, appropriately named medico della peste – or “Plague Doctor”.

My dream of visiting Venice is of
attending a ball in costume with a floor-length cape, a beautiful masque, and
being photographed at dusk running through one of its bridges across the
canals.In the meantime, I’ve decided to
celebrate at home by making Sanguinaccio,
a typical sweet of these festivities.

The original Sanguinaccio included, as its name disturbingly implies,
blood. It was the blood of a freshly
killed pig. The Neapolitans, not the
Venetians, were its creators. They used
to make it for the Lent festivities and disguised the blood with chocolate
because, let’s be honest, how else would you dare someone to drink the warm
blood of a pig? Yet as disturbing as it
sounds, the fame of the pudding spread quickly throughout Italy.

In
any case, mine did not include the blood – although for the future it would
prove an interesting experiment (after all, I do love morcilla). I substituted it instead with milk and a touch
of liquore Strega Alberti, a sweet aromatic
elixir made with saffron and a bouquet of herbs which pairs great with
chocolate. It can also be drunk on its
own as a digestif after meals.

The recipe I found was in Italian and not
a good one. Hence I ended up with a Sanguinaccio that look more like a cold
soup than a pudding. Still, it was
creamy and tasted gloriously, but a little goes a long way (and that’s without
the blood!). Perfected however, the
recipe should be as follows:

Ingredients:

½
liter of whole milk (but if you are really adventurous you may want to try
¼ liter of whole milk and ¼ liter fresh pig’s blood. Ouch!)

1
cup of sugar

1.5
oz. cornstarch

3.5
oz. unsweetened cocoa powder

2.8
oz. semi-sweet (60%) chocolate, melted

1
oz. unsalted butter

1
vanilla pod, seeds scraped

1
pinch of cinnamon (Vietnamese style)

3
oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

3
Tbsp. liquore Strega Alberti

A
few candied orange peels, chopped

Preparation:

Melt the semi-sweet chocolate on a bain
Marie. Add the milk (or milk and
blood!), cornstarch, sugar, butter, cocoa, vanilla seeds and cinnamon and cook
over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens – about 15 to 18
minutes. Place in small pots and chill in the fridge until ready to serve.

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About Me

I was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and lived there during the first twenty years of my life. I've been living in the Sunshine State for over twenty years now, most recently in Orlando - the city of Disney.
I'm a Political Scientist and have traveled extensively as the true Saggitarian that I am. I love to experience new cultures through food and customs. In this blog, I aim to invite you to slow down and enjoy the pleasures of life in order to become the perfect, non-desperate hostess - mainly good food, wine, travel, great literature and entertainment with the people that matter to us. This is a blog about debauchery, so if you are not interested in self-indulgence, you might have to look elsewhere.
As far as my personal interests go, I have a sponge-like mind and absorb as much from the world around me as I can. I am mostly interested in everything French, the country's history, cuisine and traditions.
This blog is about dreams, projects and passions. Mine just as much as yours. I review products and places, and test recipes. I invite you to peruse and indulge...